08 March 2010

Wine Guerrilla Zinfandels

Wine Guerrilla is a company that produces Zinfandel with grapes sourced from various vineyards throughout Sonoma County. There are eight different bottles in the current range, priced from $12-35. Why make eight different Zinfandels? There's a surprising amount of variety within a relatively small area and with the judicious blending of Petite Sirah or other red grapes, a good winemaker can make a unique wine. When I visited Sonoma last year I was amazed to taste, say three Zinfandels at one winery, drive a mile, and try three very different Zinfandels at the neighboring winery.

If you're interested in how these little subregions of Sonoma differ from one another, it would be worthwhile to work through these wines. You'll get a little tour of the region under the direction of a single winemaking philosophy. I got to try two:

The 2008 Russian River Valley, $18, 16.5% abv. 86% Zinfandel from MacMurray Ranch and 14% Petite Sirah from Forchini's Russian River Ranch. A big, bold red with strong black cherry aromas and a Port-like character. Tart with lots of overripe berry flavors. As it breathes and opens up over the course of a few hours, it softens and has a rounder mouthfeel.

The 2008 Adel's Vineyard Dry Creek Valley is a smaller run with 210 cases made. $30, 16.3% abv. 100% Zinfandel. Much more complex with vegetal notes, a touch of chocolate, and a brambly aspect. On the palate are wild strawberries, more chocolate, and just a slightly bitter finish with mouth-drying tannins.

For higher alcohol, fruit-forward wines like these I'd recommend roast lamb, venison, or another strongly-flavored meat with a rich sauce.

10 comments:

I've seen these around but the name and the labels always deflected my attention. Could be interesting to try - I'm a sucker for Sonoma Zins. Though the 16% abv is a bit scary. If you set your expectations for a full-throttle style, and pair it with big, rich flavors as you suggest, they can be enjoyable. Maybe I'll pick one up the next time I'm doing a Zin series for the blog. Actually, I've been thinking about doing a RRV Zin series.

In general I prefer lighter, lower-alcohol wines, but a lot of the initial strength of a bigger wine can be softened with decanting or even opening the wine a day before.

There's something I've seen happen a few times: a novice wine lover opens a bottle of a strong red, and pours a glass immediately. He drinks it and says, "Ugh, that's rough!" Then has another glass, and eventually the bottle is gone before it's had a chance to get any air. Anytime I run into this, I'll always decant it, or leave a glass sitting out for an hour or two before I really assess it.

Sometimes a little cooling helps as well--a high alcohol wine that's served between 70-80°F can be harsh even under the best circumstances.

What's particularly great here is the opportunity to experience distinct terroir through the different areas: Dry Creek, Alexander Valley, Russian River, or just general Sonoma County.

I'm with Jim -- when I see names and labels like this, it kind of puts me off. It seems too "cutesy" or "market-y" or something. And the alcohol content, whoa! I've been lately into nice, restrained low-alcohol wines, so if I were going to try one of these Zins, I'd for sure have to pair them with a substantial red meat kind of item to tame them a little. Then again, untamed can be kind of fun too. :)

I'm kind of surprised at the reaction to the labels--I actually was fond of them because of the Matisse/Fauvism connection. It's not often you see "real art" on a label. I have a preference for the more typographical labels, but even here a font that bridges the gap between Art Nouveau and Art Deco seemed fitting and appropriate.

As with everything, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I've done a lot of griping here about labels I positively hated. There are still wines I refuse to purchase because of a bad font choice by the graphic designer. It has no bearing on the quality of the wine inside the bottle, but if I get angry staring at the label I'm probably not going to enjoy the wine.

As a food guy, I'm usually for a lower alcohol, higher acid wine as well. But sometimes, I just want something to drink without food, and these wines are no different to me than a glass of scotch...the alcohol's not a bad thing if it's in balance (also considering by law that these wines may be 17%+). I'm not man enough to drink my scotch neat, so I agree that a bit of a chill (say, 60-64 degrees) on a huge Zin is a nice way to serve it.

I don't mind the actual art used on these labels, but the overall impression it gave me was that these wines are more about the brand and label than the juice. However, as you point out and after checking out their website, they do seem to emphasize quality vineyard sites - whereas I would have assumed they were generic blends on first glance. Lesson learned.

Balance is definitely key. I've had a 13% abv wine that smelled hot as a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and one that was nearly 17% that was as smooth as silk.

Jim,

It's fair to note that getting these as samples was a bit different than buying them in the store--I don't know if the label would have pulled me in or not. Glad you checked out their website, and let me know if you try one of the wines.

Well, when I look at these labels again, I notice they are rather attractive. I shy away from labels like that in general, because I guess I assume that it can't be a serious wine with a label like that. Which I know is wrong because, #1, that's not always the case, and in any case, #2, all wine does not have to be "serious."